


Paradox

by Adevlo_D



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blood and Violence, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Masturbation, Shounen-ai, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-11-16 08:26:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18090869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adevlo_D/pseuds/Adevlo_D
Summary: Obito has spent all of his waking hours to go back to a time in which he could be happy. But life has a funny way of dealing him a losing hand. Or Naruto is just an anomaly in which probabilities can’t calculate the extent of his unpredictability.





	1. Encounters of a Strange Kind

**PART I -**

“Why do we need to bring _him_ along?”

Minato sighed loudly and rubbed his temples in annoyance at his aggravating student. Rin rolled her eyes exasperatedly while Kakashi merely inspected their newly acquired teammate who stood beside his sensei reticently. The teenage boy looked so much like the man that if Kakashi didn’t know any better he would have thought Naruto was Minato’s son.

“ _Because_ Obito we need the extra man-power for this mission.” Minato explained sternly. Obito glared at the boy, his dislike very apparent but the reason behind it not so much.

“We have all the man-power we need. We don’t _want_ him.” Obito spoke haughtily. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him.

“What’s your problem, asshole?” Naruto snarled, walking the few steps needed to be in Obito’s face. However, the boy didn’t even flinch as he leaned closer as well, hands balling into fists at his sides.

“ _You’re_ what’s my problem, _punk_.” Obito spat out angrily. Naruto growled and before he could wipe the smug look off the bastard’s face a firm hand on his shoulder pulled him back.

“Knock it off you two.” Minato reprimanded, giving both boys a hard look.

“Honestly Obito, do you really have to pick a fight with him? Leave him alone already!”

Obito glanced at his teammate, all earlier anger dissipating in that very instant as he stared at her. She looked so cute when she was flustered! Beside her his bastard rival shook his head.

“Okay you guys, let us begin introductions! Naruto, you go first!”

Naruto glared up at the evil blond man that looked too much like himself before staring at the other three teens who were watching him with mixed expressions of boredom and curiosity.

“My name is Naruto. Please take care of me.” he said lamely, already knowing that the opposite was the likeliest scenario here when Obito already seemed to dislike him and Kakashi looked as interested in him as a sack of potatoes.  

He started at Rin’s abrupt squeal of delight.

“He looks just like you Minato-sensei! Are you two related?” she questioned while raking her eyes up and down Naruto’s suddenly very timid form. Minato chuckled nervously, suddenly becoming very self-aware under his team’s scrutiny.

There was no denying how similar their appearances were. On their way over here they had turned many heads had turned and caused many sets of eyes to bulge almost comically. Minato had had to reassure too many people that no, he had not fathered a son outside of his relationship with Kushina and yes, Kushina did know about Naruto and no, he was not lying.

“While it appears that way Naruto is actually from Takumi no Sato. My mentor, Jiraiya, brought him back here to become a Konoha shinobi.” While it wasn’t too far away from the truth he noticed the almost imperceptible narrowing of Kakashi’s eyes. His countenance did not waver and he kept his eyes focused on Rin. Kakashi was too skilled for his own good sometimes...

“You haven’t introduced yourself yet, Rin.” he innocuously pointed out, ignoring Obito’s mumbling of - _“What was that pervert doing all the way out there anyway?”_ \- and causing Rin to flush in embarrassment.

The girl straightened her posture, all traces of her previous girlish behavior vanishing as she smiled politely at Naruto.

“My name is Nohara Rin! I am the medic-nin of this team. It’s really nice to meet you, Naruto!” he flashed the girl his pearly-whites, his earlier bashfulness slowly disappearing in the face of such welcoming friendliness.

“Uchiha Obito.” Obito begrudgingly introduced himself without meeting the other boy’s eyes and instead chose to glare at the ground next to him.

“Hatake Kakashi.” the other boy stated nonchalantly and Naruto nodded in his direction. This Kakashi was going to be just as swell as the older one, he could just tell. Nothing a little Naruto-magic wouldn’t fix, he surmised.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Minato decided to clear his throat.

“Well our first assignment as a team shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s true that we are currently in trying times but this mission is of great urgency and was specifically given to us by Hokage-sama.” Minato stated with disconcerting eyes. They all perked up and leaned in simultaneously. “Which means we must give it our all. Its a low-ranking mission but that does not mean it's any less important, understand?”

All four of them nodded, their impatience getting the best of them as they waited to be given more information.

“Understood, sensei. Where will we be going and what will our objective be?” Rin was the first to ask the questions that were running through all their heads. She would have rolled her eyes at her sensei’s dramatics if the situation wasn’t so grim.

Minato gave them a stern look before pulling out a scroll from the pockets of his flak jacket. He opened it and placed it on the ground. They all crouched around him, eyes hardened with determination.

“We will be travelling east.” he pointed to a spot on the roughly drawn map. He waited for their collective understanding before continuing.

“While we may not be fighting the Land of Water currently please understand that their village is at civil war. Any skirmishes with their shinobi must be avoided at all cost least we want their attention directed at us. Luckily our mission takes place a bit away from from Kirigakure so we won’t need many preventative measures.”

“So it’s kind of like an infiltration mission but...not?” Obito asked and Naruto hated to admit he was a bit lost too.

“Basically just don’t let any of their shinobi see you, you idiot.” Kakashi quipped and picked at his ear, preparing himself for the shouting match Obito was prone to having.

“Shut up, Kakashi! Nobody asked you!”

Minato sighed. Well, he’d manage to keep their attention longer than usual…

Rin had a hand on her face as she watched her teammates begin their many squabbles. Minato looked to her left where Naruto stood watching them as well but his expression was one he didn’t expect. The boy looked so…despondent.

_“Who is he?”_

_As expected, the question is met with a resonating silence. Jiraiya was leaning against the windowsill of the hospital room, arms crossed and posture stiff all the while looking at him with such a steely gaze that something inside him felt adjacent. Actually, the entire situation was giving him disquieting vibes. It left him on-edge._

_“All you need to know is that I found him. Whether he is a threat to us or not is entirely up to you, Minato.”_

_He glanced at the motionless body of a boy that looked to much like him. His body was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, his scarred face so serene and innocent that it made his hands shake with the barest of trembles. He tore his eyes away and looked at Jiraiya again, narrowing his eyes at the way he favored his left side._

_“What do you mean it's up to me? Why would you bring him here in the first place if you didn’t know?” This whole thing was making his head hurt. He’d never been one to question his mentor’s idiosyncrasies but this-...this was too eccentric even for him._

_“Once he’s better Sarutobi will be placing him in your team and assigning you a mission. You can accept it or you can reject it. However, if you are to reject this mission his fate will be predetermined by Danzo.”_

_The atmosphere was cold and foreboding and it paralyzed him._

_“We both know how that will turn out.”_

_Jiraiya went to exit the room but stopped just short of him._

_“I trust your decision, Minato.”_

_He left and Minato stood there and was gripped with the unspoken words._

“Seriously guys, sensei hasn’t even told us the objective!” Rin whined and Minato snapped from his musings before they could go any further.

Coughing into his hand he addressed his team again. The yelling stopped and their eyes were back on him in an instant.

“Yes, well, once we get to our destination we must locate two individuals, one man and one woman. They go by the names of Haruto and Maiko. For now I will leave the explanation to that, got it?”

A chorus of “Hai!” was enough for him to nod at them and readjust his pack.

“Let’s move out.”

…

…

…

“Oh Kami-sama, we’ve been walking for almost _seven hours now_ . Can we take a rest already, sensei?” Obito groaned and fell to the ground face-first for dramatic affect. His feet were hurting and the sun had _just_ started to set, abandoning its post in the sky from boring down rays of scorching heat onto their backs.

His two teammates walked passed him and then suddenly there was a sharp jab at his side. Obito yelped and sat up, glaring at a snickering Naruto who continued on walking.

Ahead of Naruto, Rin slouched and wiped her sweaty forehead. The Land of Fire was such a large country and it was unfortunate that their mission landed right in the dead of summer.

“I agree with Obito this time, sensei. We should stop to set up camp for the night before it gets too dark.” She confessed and beside her Naruto nodded his head in agreement. Minato glanced at them momentarily before sighing in defeat, changing their course and experimentally taking a whiff of the air.

Luckily, he smelt the faint trace of freshwater and redirected his team deeper south. They reached a fairly small clearing within the woodlands and it was a couple of yards away from the water. They set their things down onto the forest floor, three out of the four letting out relieved sighs and rubbing their aching shoulders.

“I’m going to check the perimeter. I’ll be back in five to ten seconds.” Minato disappeared within the trees and Naruto raised an eyebrow at Rin.

“Doesn’t he mean five to ten minutes?” he questioned her and she simply chuckled, but it was Kakashi who answered his inquiry.

“No, he meant seconds.”

“But how-“ Naruto was interrupted by a large hand clamping his shoulder and a firm body pressing closely against his back.

“I’m back.” A deep voice whispered in his ear, tickling the strands of his blond hair and fanning breath into the shell of his ear.

“ _Gaaaaah!_ ” Naruto instinctively jumped away from Minato and later, he would deny any and all accusations of shrieking like a little girl.

Minato laughed heartily at the boy’s reaction, as did Rin and Obito. Kakashi merely looked amused as they watched Naruto angrily mutter about going to “get some damn water” and then proceeded to stomp off, canteen in hand.

Grumbling angrily to himself he knew his words held no real meaning to them. Coming to Konoha wasn’t anything as he expected it to be, after all, and the outcome was a lot better than he’d originally imagined. For the past two months he’d been under Jiraiya’s watch and tutelage.

While he had been undoubtedly overcome with joy at the prospect finally getting to train under Jiraiya (despite it being a younger version of the man he already knew) nothing could really keep the thought of home away from his mind for more than a day. Konoha, as he knew it, did not exist. Many of the people he’d known had not been born quite yet but their parents still roamed the streets like ghosts of what he was trying desperately to reach.

The water felt fresh against his heated skin. He let out a long sigh and let his stiff posture relax for a moment. His muscles ached from his involuntary tensing, unused to being surrounded by people who obviously distrusted him.

Back at the camp Kakashi and Minato went around gathering branches and twigs for the fire while Obito went about trying to actually get the flame going with the little amount of burning material they had. He had been twirling a stick furiously within his palms when Rin came up to him, towel in hand and a brush in the other.

“I’m going to go wash all this dirt and sweat off me. Tell sensei I’ll be back in thirty minutes.” Obito nodded to her, still too engrossed with trying to make the hunk of log under his stick to create some sort of heat for the desired fire he wanted. He _needed_ to finish before Kakashi came and took over.

A minute into it, Obito suddenly paused. Wait a minute…Rin was going to bathe in the river….the same one Naruto had gone to ten minutes ago…and had yet to return from.

_Oh shit!_

It took awhile for it to click in his head but when it did, Obito was _furious._ He stood up and made to leave but stopped himself short. The fire…

Obito stared at it for a long while. He’d reached an impasse. Then-

“The fuck didn’t I think about this before? I can use my _katon_ jutsu!”

Making a few hand seals he shot the tiniest of fireballs at the pile of wood. The bark immediately caught on fire and Obito grinned, coughing out the excess smoke from his mouth. He didn’t waste any more time in leaving to go save Rin from that new bastard’s prying eyes.

“I’m coming Rin!” he shouted determinedly to no one in particular. In a matter of seconds he made it to the crystalline river, his eyes frantically searching for a head of spiky blond hair.

_There! That peeping tom!_

Obito found him half-hidden behind a boulder attached to the edge of the river. He also spotted Rin in the river a few feet away from Naruto. She probably hadn’t seen the pervert yet since her bare shoulders was facing Obito and said pervert was hiding behind a rock, most likely peeping on her to get a glimpse of her womanly body.

 _Oh no you don’t…_ he growled mentally before jumping off the tree branch he was on and stealthily darting toward Naruto.

He was only a few feet away from the other boy when his foot accidentally stepped on a twig and consequently snapped it in half. Naruto lifted his head at the sound only for his eyes to widen upon seeing Obito in the air all but flying toward him at a dangerous speed.

“Raaaahh!” Obito’s battle cry rung through the air, disturbing the birds nesting in the trees and the squirrels living within their hollows. Rin snapped her attention to the ruckus and could only gap at what unfolded before her.

Naruto didn’t have time to yell out his surprise when Obito’s face collided right smack with his, causing the unimaginable that Naruto could only interpret as another repeat of what happened with Sasuke, but only this time it was with a different Uchiha.

Their lips made a loud _smack_ upon impact.

Obito’s mouth muffled Naruto’s yelp as they both fell into the river from the force of the unexpected tackle. The water was cold and it prickled at their skin. They separated, their eyes comically the size of saucers. From above there were only glimpses of tan and pale skin and blond and black hair, their thrashing causing the water to bubble to the surface.

Tanned arms waved around frantically before finding Obito’s hair and yanking on it with so much force that Obito yelped in pain causing water to rush into his open mouth. A wild fist tried in vain to hit him but Obito managed to catch it, the bubbles having since dissipated.

Consequently, it was also in that moment he noticed just how stark naked Naruto was, but he refused to let it affect him despite the blush that ran across his pale cheeks. Obito balled up his hand into a fist and gathered chakra into his arm, pushing through the weight of the water effortlessly.

Naruto gurgled and squirmed, raising his shoulder so the punch would land on there instead of his face. He winced slightly but gained composure when he pulled his trapped hand back and out of Obito’s clutch. It was getting harder to breathe by the second but Naruto wouldn’t let up until he taught that Uchiha bastard a lesson.

He let go of Obito’s hair and kicked the boy in the abdomen. He then landed another chakra-infused kick to Obito’s head.

Naruto saw the boy try to yell in pain but he took the chance to swim to the surface before Obito managed to drag him back. His lungs needed oxygen and quickly. Taking a big gulp of air once he reached the top he let his body sag into the ground, chest heaving.

“Obito!”

He sat upright, now noticing Rin on the other side of the river with a towel tightly wrapped around her body and her hands cupped around her mouth nervously. She was staring at the watery, reflected form of Obito sprawled in the depths of the river. Fear struck Naruto’s heart when he didn’t see the boy’s body moving in the slightest, just simply sinking to the river floor.

He didn’t hesitate to jump back in and he swam as fast as he could toward Obito. He wrapped an arm around the boy’s waist and swam back to the surface. Dragging Obito’s body through the water he heaved it onto the banks of the river before collapsing onto the ground in between Obito’s legs.

Naruto was heaving once more, forcing air into his lungs to regulate his pounding heart. Obito appeared to have lost consciousness from the amount of water he took in and despite the fact that Naruto was shaken to his very core he placed his quivering and wet hands on the boy’s chest.

He counted to three before pressing down, trying desperately to remember what Kakashi had taught him back in his old genin days. Naruto did it again, but there was still no response from Obito’s paler-than-normal face.

“Shit!” he cursed, repeating the action a couple of more times.

Again, no response.

Naruto crawled higher up the other boy’s soaking body, pinching Obito’s nose with his fingers and pushing his chin down with his other. He tilted his own head to the side and leaned forward, enveloping his lips (once again, he thought to himself in irritation) with his own and breathing into him.

The response was immediate.

Obito coughed violently, water pushed through his throat and out of his mouth. Naruto pulled back and watched him intently, relief flooding within him as he watched the boy cough up the remains of the water he had swallowed.

“Well, this is certainly a sight to see…” someone muttered off to the side and Naruto snapped his head to stare at his three other teammates standing there with shocked expressions on their faces. Finally taking notice of the fact that he was still naked and practically sprawled on top of a coughing Obito made him blush a heavy shade of red.

He scrambled off the other boy and firmly placed his hands on his crotch to shield his precious jewels away from the other. Obito’s coughing had ceased and it didn’t take him long to realize their predicament.

_“You fucking basta-“_

…

…

…

“I swear I’m going to kill you.”

Naruto rolled his eyes at the fourth empty threat Obito shot his way. The boy was currently sitting on the far end of the small clearing under a tree, knees pressed to his chest as he shivered within the towels and blankets wrapped around his trembling form. A trail of snot was hanging down his left nostril, coming right back down every time he sniffled. It added to the almost-drowned puppy look that he was pulling off at the moment.

“Yeah, yeah.” he grunted in return, picking at the flames with his stick while Kakashi, who sat beside him, snorted. Obito turned his glare onto his rival, snarling at the pair of despicable ‘teammates’ he had.

“What’re you snorting at, you bastard!?” Obito shouted and Rin watched the exchange between her male teammates worriedly while she chewed soundlessly on the fried fish her sensei had cooked for her.

“At your incompetence, you moron.” Kakashi replied without missing a beat. Obito snarled and abruptly stood to point an accusatory finger at his rival.

“I’m not incompetent, you bastard! I oughtta punch your fac-“

“What are you so mad about anyway? I saved your life!” Naruto interrupted, having gotten fed up with Obito’s voice. Honestly, he would have thought the boy would have been worshipping the very ground he walked on after the stupid stunt he pulled. But no, here Obito was cursing him to the seventh pit of hell for Kami-sama only knew what reason.

“You stole my first kiss! I was planning on giving that to…” he blushed heavily, casting a furtive glance at Rin who upheld her deadpan expression as she ate her dinner. “To _someone,_ alright? But you _stole_ it before I could!” his breathing was ragged now, normally pale face having turned a bright shade of cherry red. Rin sighed tiredly and closed her eyes while Kakashi shook his head.

Naruto looked at him incredulously, refraining from shaking the boy in order for him to come to his senses. The girl _obviously_ wanted nothing to do with him. But before Naruto could judge Obito further, he paused. _Well,_ Naruto supposed, _he’s a lot like me back then with Sakura-chan._

“It’s not like it was my fault! You were the one who tackled me for no reason!” Naruto countered back which made Obito falter for a moment. But only for a moment.

“To stop you from peeping on Rin-chan, you pervert!” he rebutted.

Everything was deftly silent.

“O-Oh my…” she blushed and hid her face in her hands. Instead of becoming outrageously mad like Obito had thought Rin would get, she surprised him by shyly glancing in Naruto’s direction. Meanwhile, Naruto didn’t even spare her a look as he stood up and took a fighting stance in front of fire, the glowing flames accentuating the dark look he was giving Obito.

“What the fuck? I was not peeping in on Rin! I was washing off and then _she_ came so I tried to sneak away before she got scared! Your dumbass came and tackled me right when I was drying off!”

Obito was about to say something else but then visibly deflated. Naruto did have a liable alibi….

 _…Well, shit._ He thought, shifting uncomfortably under everyone’s gaze. He had just successfully made himself look like the bastard instead of Naruto.

“…Yeah, well, you still stole my first kiss which belonged to someone else!”

Kakashi literally face-palmed and Rin groaned in exasperation. Naruto’s lips twitched in amusement and his tense posture relaxed.

“It’s not like she wanted to give it you anyway.” Naruto responded impudently, arms crossed. It made Obito flush in embarrassment.

“Y-You don’t know that-“

“Yes he does.”

Naruto almost, _almost_ , felt sorry as Obito looked heart-brokenly at Rin who was calmly sipping at her water-filled canteen, eyes downcast. _Well, she didn’t have to be so cold about it,_ Naruto thought with a wince, her blatant disregard of Obito’s feelings reminding him too much of Sakura.

“R-Rin-chan…”

The kunoichi suddenly perked up, igniting Obito’s hopes once more, but quickly extinguished them once again when all her attention was focused on Naruto.

“All this talk about Obito’s first kiss has got me thinking, Naruto-chan,” he grimaced at the suffix at the end of his name but said nothing and so she continued, “did Obito-baka steal your first kiss?”

Suddenly, all eyes were glued onto Naruto.

Even Minato, who had been dozing off atop a branch on the tree Obito had been leaning on, was openly staring at him in rapt interest. It was Naruto’s turn to blush a pretty shade of pink, shifting nervously under everyone’s gazes.

“O-Oh...well, you see, it’s kind of complicated-“

Rin gasped loudly, eyes as wide as saucers and twinkling with that weird sparkle girls’ always seemed to get when discovering a new topic of gossip. Beside her, Kakashi was trying desperately not to look interested but failed miserably as he couldn’t help but stare at Naruto as well.

“Who did you kiss, Naruto-chan?” Rin pushed further, leaning dangerously close to the fire. Obito kept shifting his eyes onto her apprehensively. If she inclined any further she was surely going to fall in…

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, looking impish as he tried to sink into himself, hoping the earth below would just swallow him whole once and for all.

“A-Ano-saa…”

“Was she any good?”

Naruto’s blush deepened and he really wished at that moment in time that he wasn’t such a bad liar.

“I-It wasn’t a girl…”

There was a stretched silence and Naruto took that chance to peek up at them. All three of them had shocked looks on their faces, mouths slightly agape, especially Obito’s.

“You kissed another boy?!” Rin squealed in delight, hands cupping both of her cheeks as she bemoaned such a missed opportunity. Her teammates shot her strange looks as she continued to mumble to herself, her doe eyes sparkling as she lost herself to her imagination

 _Strange, Sakura and Ino react the same way with that kind of stuff…._ Naruto thought bemusedly. He coughed into his hand while his blush seemed permanently stuck on his face.

“It was an accident.” he stated calmly but on the inside he was anything but. “Someone pushed me that time. I honestly don’t know why these things keep happening to me.” he scratched his head as he pondered all the questionable moments of his life.

He shrugged it off and no one else said anything but Obito, for some odd reason, couldn’t help stare at him.

 _It’s probably because he’s kind of...cute..._ he thought, watching the flame incandescing along Naruto’s face. They made the blues of his eyes shine like the ocean on a summer day. They were just as bottomless too, holding and baring his infinite expressions for everyone to see.

Obito blinked.

 _What the hell am I thinking! Oh my god maybe the kiss was contagious? Am I gay?_ He glanced at Rin and his heart beat its usual fluttering dance. Obito breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you stupid or just dumb?”

The ingratiating voice was the last thing he wanted to hear during his mini-crisis. He whipped around and glared Kakashi down.

“What do you want?” he spit out. Kakashi raised a single eyebrow, his head still resting on the bole of the tree and using his arms as a cushion.

“Are you finished questioning yourself?”

Obito sputtered, glancing around to see if anyone else had heard him and luckily finding everyone else getting ready to sleep.

“You’re too easy, Uchiha.” Kakashi taunted and Obito turned bright red.

“Keep it down you asshole! If you noticed me noticing it, doesn’t that mean your in the same boat too?”

For once Kakashi didn’t say anything. Obito didn’t stop the triumphant grin that threatened to split his face in half.

“If this is the first time you’re having to reassure yourself I hardly doubt you’ll be able to make it passed chuunin.”

He could feel his blood vessels popping every second. Casting a furtive glance over at the spot his sensei had been occupying and, upon seeing it empty, scooted closer toward Kakashi as to not alarm the others.

“What does that even mean?” he whispered angrily.

Kakashi cast him a look of disdain and it made his blood boil. “You’ll understand eventually I guess.” he turned over on his side, effectively cutting the conversation short. Obito growled his annoyance and got up to get as far away as he could from his bastard of a teammate.

 _What the hell does he even know about anything,_ he pondered angrily and was left mulling it over until he fell asleep.

…

…

…

  



	2. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obito has spent all of his waking hours to go back to a time in which he could be happy. But life has a funny way of dealing him a losing hand. Or Naruto is just an anomaly in which probabilities can’t calculate the extent of his unpredictability.

“Do you need help with that, Rin?”

“O-Oh, well, if it’s not too much trouble…”

“Not at all-“

“Rin-chan~, your lips are so sooooft….” 

The bear-like snore that followed the sleep-induced statement had Rin’s temple visibly throbbing. Naruto flinched as she roughly shoved her sleeping bag into his arms with a mumbled “hold this” and stalked her way toward the lump a few feet away from them. 

She pulled back her fist and Naruto winced as a crack resonated throughout the forest.

“ _ ITAAIII! _ ”

Behind Naruto, Minato sighed and shook his head, resuming his weapons check as if nothing had happened. Kakashi merely watched all of them with a seemingly permanent impassiveness. 

However, every so often Naruto would feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention when he wasn’t facing him. Each time he looked back Kakashi was busy staring off somewhere else but he wasn't fooled. Kakashi was keeping a close eye on him and had been since the very start of the mission.

_ Damn, even young Kakashi is a creep,  _ Naruto thought with a shudder.

“What was that for, Rin-chan?” Obito whined pitifully whilst rubbing his throbbing head. Kami-sama, that girl had one killer sucker-punch (one of the qualities he found hard to think was lovely about her in any way since they were always directed at him for no absolute reason).

Rin simply glared down at him with a scowl firmly etched on her pretty features. Her eyes were ablaze with fury but softened within seconds as she watched her adorably disheveled teammate try and disentangle himself from within the confines of his sleeping bag but to no avail. She ripped her gaze off of him before she could coo over his childlike behavior and went back to Naruto, who had already set about the task of trying to stick her sleeping bag into her backpack, but was also failing miserably. 

She froze mid-step though, looking at Naruto sitting on the ground and fumbling with her supplies and then turning back to Obito who sat cross-legged on the ground, groggily attempting to do the same thing with his own belongings.

It was weird how much they looked physically similar and acted the same childish way they did (although, Obito was obviously more immature), but yet despite the obvious similarities between the two boys, they acted like they hated each other’s guts. Rin furrowed her eyebrows together in thought,  _ maybe if they’d just talk things out and got to know one another then perhaps- _

Her musings were cut short when her name was called out in a sort-of babyish whine. Rin blinked at the sight she was met with and promptly snorted. There, kneeling resignedly on the ground was Naruto, tangled within her sleeping bag looking as if his puppy had just gotten kicked, and to the right of her Obito was getting strangled by his own sleeping bag.

Honestly, she didn’t know whom to go to first. On one hand, Naruto looked so painstakingly cute with that pout of his, but on the other hand, Obito  _ was  _ going to suffocate to death if she didn’t do something soon… 

Sighing in relief when she noticed Kakashi pushing himself off the tree he’d been leaning on to help Naruto with her sleeping bag she slowly made her way over to her rowdy teammate. Giving the fabric a harsh tug she successfully managed to detangle Obito, the latter letting out a squawk as his body landed unceremoniously on the ground. Rin only sighed exasperatedly.

“Idiot…” she grumbled, turning her gaze to stare longingly at the two boys neatly folding her sleeping bag. What she would give to be in Naruto’s place right now…

Glaring angrily down at Obito as if it were his fault her crush wasn’t with her brushing hands in the midst of folding, she stomped over to her sensei but not without giving Obito a sharp kick to the leg. 

“Ouchiiee…” Obito groaned, not having the resolve to show any malice toward his teammate even though he  _ knew  _ he hadn’t deserved that one.

“Kakashi, grab that end over there.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“ _ Grab it. _ ”

“No.”

“For the love of- just grab it will ya?”

“You grab it.”

“Don’t you think I would have if I could?”

Minato and Rin watched with amused and disbelieving eyes as Kakashi actually participated in bickering with Naruto. For a moment there Rin believed they had been put under a _genjutsu_ of some sort, because there was absolutely no way that _the_ Hatake Kakashi was speaking more than two words at a time. And least of all to a person he hadn’t even properly known two days ago!

Naruto clenched his teeth together in frustration, angrily curling his fingers into the fabric as he stood in front of Kakashi, who was gazing at him expectantly. Jeez, what was up with the testosterone levels in his two male teammates? It was like they tried to size him up in everything he did! 

Reluctantly, and with muttered curses under his breath, Naruto grabbed the stray flap with much difficulty. It kept going further away from him every time he moved, so much so that he had unknowingly pressed his body flush against Kakashi’s own. He hadn’t noticed though, merely grinning triumphantly when the annoying flap finally found refuge on Kakashi’s hip, in which he chose that opportune moment to snatch it with his occupied hand.

There was a gasp to his left and he snapped his head toward the general direction it came from. He looked around in confusion as he caught sight of Rin and Obito openly gapping at him. Minato, on the other hand, looked positively gleeful what with his unusually wide grin threatening to split his face in half.

“What the-“

He didn’t have time to finish his inquiry when he felt something brush up in between his thighs. Before he could possibly screech like a little girl again, the unknown object had successfully nudged him away from Kakashi’s personal space, and he finally took notice to the lack of warmth that had once been pressed up against him. 

Naruto turned a bright shade of crimson.

_ Oh no,  _ he groaned internally,  _ not again! Why does this keep happening to me! _

“Ah, Kakashi, I’m so-“

The other boy didn’t let him finish though, choosing to stuff his ends of the sleeping bag into Naruto’s hands.

“Hurry up so we can move on already.” He grumbled sourly, stalking away from his group in favor of gathering his gear. 

Minato smirked as Kakashi shot him a menacing glare when he failed to stifle his chuckle. He couldn’t help it! Kakashi looked so adorable trying to hide that blush of his! Maybe Naruto really would be a good influence on the group…

As always, Kushina had been right about her outlandish predictions of the future. With a roll of his eyes, Minato stood up, watching amusedly as Naruto frantically stuffed Rin’s sleeping bag into her pack, face still beet red.

“If we leave now we can arrive in the Land of Noodles by nightfall. Don’t forget to fill up your canteens before we leave, alright?” As expected, Rin was the only one to nod enthusiastically, promptly setting about the task while dragging Naruto with her. 

Minato could only shake his head as both Kakashi and Obito watched them leave with almost forlorn eyes, albeit one more discreet about it than the other.

It was nearing the afternoon when all of the team was feeling the affects of Obito and Naruto’s tension. It had been Minato’s bright idea for the two of them to bring around the back of their formation, leaving the boys a few paces away from the rest of their team members. 

Rin kept sneaking worried glances at her two teammates now and again. She was afraid that one of them would end up strangling the other if neither of them chose to clear the air soon. The pregnant silence was suffocating hernand she could tell it was affecting Kakashi as well from how rigid his posture was. Up ahead, Minato seemed unperturbed by the ordeal, his eyes staring straight forward.

Raking a hand through his spiky black hair Obito let out an irritated sigh. He wasn’t one for silence and he could tell that Naruto wasn’t either with the way he kept looking around and fidgeting with the straps of his backpack. Yet neither of them spoke, one out of precaution and the other out of stubborness.

He sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.

“Hey, uh, Naruto?”

He’d expected for the other to ignore him, but to his surprise blue eyes flickered their curious gaze onto him. Obito flushed, the intensity of Naruto’s gaze on him too much too soon and it was something he wasn’t used to receiving. It all of a sudden made him feel nervous.

His throat felt parched and he swallowed thickly, averting his gaze to the ground and then back up at Naruto, who was pinning him with an expectant look. 

“About last night…” Obito trailed off, shame clearly written all over his face. Naruto remained silent and for that he was grateful.

“I might have come off on the wrong foot...” he supplied with a nervous chuckle. He wasn’t used to admitting his wrongdoings outright but there was so much time to reflect that it was near impossible to see how much of a bastard he’d presented himself as. Naruto was still looking at him with such a bland expression that it was doing a good job of unnerving him.

“So um,” he continued, his slight smile a bit strained and his words tight, “I hope we can start over, yeah?” He laughed a bit but it didn’t last long when he finally noticed that Naruto had stopped walking all together and was now standing stalk-still in the middle of the road, eyes looking straight at the unmoving earth below his feet.

Raising an inquisitive eyebrow Obito walked the few steps needed to close the distance between them.

“Naruto?” he questioned.

“Do you feel that?” the other boy said, eyes narrowed at the trees in the distance.

“Feel what?” 

Obito was thoroughly confused by now. He didn’t feel whatever Naruto was talking about and by the way the other boy was holding his stomach he’d bet it was just gas. Although, the look on Naruto’s face had him thinking otherwise, and just as he was about to ask what exactly it was the boy was feeling, there was a rustle of leaves and then a blinding white pain shot up his right arm.

“Obito!” Naruto shouted, eyes wide as speckles of his teammate’s blood landed on his face. He had tried to wait for Kakashi-sensei’s signal of what to do but once he remembered that he was on foreign land in an era he was not familiar with, his fight or flight instincts kicked in and adrenaline coursed through his body as he darted forward, one arm wrapping around Obito’s uninjured hand and dragging the shock frozen boy with him into the forest, not even bothering to check for the rest of his team. 

There were footsteps echoing through the forest as their enemy jumped through the treetops and Naruto faltered for a moment but that was all it took. Senbon needles rained down on them and it was all too familiar. 

Flashes of blood and ice crystal mirrors. A strong, young body falling to the ground and then liquid fire coursing through his veins had his breathing becoming heavier and quivering with unrestrained panic.

“Sasuke!” he screamed, eyes wide with fright because he would not let Sasuke get hurt again, not on his count. This time it was not going to be his fault. 

He pushed the other boy with all his might and successfully got him out of danger but the same could not be said on his behalf.

The minute Naruto jumped backward he felt the familiar sting of needles imbedding themselves into the meat of his thighs, arms, and shoulders. Groaning in discomfort as his back was slammed into a nearby tree he didn’t allow the miniscule attack deter him. He pushed his body against the wood and used the momentum to search around for his teammate. 

From his peripheral vision he noticed a sudden movement and, with instinct overriding his senses, he whipped out the hidden kunai knife from his sleeve and charged.

“Naruto!” a familiar voice hissed and it took all Naruto had not to sink his weapon into Obito’s head. They stood in front of each other, breathing ragged and eyes wide. Naruto blinked, slowly bringing down his kunai when he noticed that the person he had been ready to attack wasn’t the enemy.. 

Obito frowned at the glossy, far-away look the boy was giving him but didn’t dwell on the matter, instead choosing to grab Naruto’s hand to lead him further into the forest. He knew the drill. If any of them were to be separated from the group then it was up to them to escape their enemies either by losing them or engaging them in battle to survive. Right now it seemed as though they had no other choice than to spill blood.

The rustling of leaves and wisps of fractured air alerted him once more of their surroundings and he sped up their pace even more. Naruto still hadn’t snapped out of whatever phase he was in so Obito gripped his hand with his uninjured one tighter and proceeded into the forest, looking frantically for a place to hide because from the sound of it there wasn’t going to be just another single enemy attacking them that he could easily defeat like the previous one. 

They were running out of time, that much was for sure, and just as Obito was about ready to take his fighting stance and take on their enemies head on with Naruto behind him, a warm hand wrapped around his wrist and tugged him down. Both boys scrambled into the small crevice at the base of a tree, their bodies barely fitting but they wiggled and squirmed until they were in, their breathing heavy and loud once situated. 

It was a tight knit space for two grown teens but they said nothing when thighs touched thighs and faces became dangerously close to one another, their puffs of breath intermingling. They did not squirm in discomfort as pale, bare skin slickened with sweat rubbed against tanned flesh, and they certainly did not shout when lips brushed against cheeks.

The adrenaline coursing through Obito had him breathing heavily and muscles quivering with anxiousness. Naruto was glaring fiercely at him to be quiet but he just couldn’t. He had been so ready to fight and now, they had to wait in the constricting hollowness of a tree. The heat was stifling and their sweat mixed together, wounds seeping blood and dripping onto the earth. 

Shouts of orders were heard from the outside and Naruto placed a calm hand at the base of Obito’s neck, bringing the other’s head down with his, their foreheads touching, and placed his other bloodied hand on the Obito’s mouth. 

“Relax.” He whispered softly, his own body taut and strained. There was no struggle between the two, their previous conversation before any of this escaping them because now nothing else mattered other than survival, and for that to happen they had depend on each other with their lives. 

“Did you find them?” a voice from the outside barked, sounding a couple feet away from where the two boys were located.

Obito’s fist clenched at his sides and Naruto held onto the other boy tighter, eyes narrowed at him. If they even so much as breathed the wrong way it could mean the life of either two, or both, and he would not allow that despite how much Obito rubbed him the wrong way. 

“Negative.” Another replied and there was muttered cursing. 

Both their faces were flushed over by now, sweat trickling down their foreheads and getting in their eyes. The heat in between them was radiating in waves. It was hot outside and coupled with the fact that their bodies were so heated and folded awkwardly against each other inside of a tree it felt as if they were being roasted inside an oven.

“Find them.  _ Now _ .” 

And then there was terse silence.

Neither one of them spoke for precautionary reasons, not even attempting to  _ breathe _ . Up until then they had held their breaths as long as they could and they could feel their lungs screaming for oxygen. 

Both boys stared at one another. Naruto, losing himself in the dark pools of Obito’s eyes that reminded him so much of Sasuke it hurt. 

Obito spent his time analyzing every feature of the other boy’s face. Naruto’s irises were eerily bright despite the darkness inside their hideout and he could identify speckles of gold and red within them, showing exactly how afraid and yet so determined he was to get through this.

After another moment or two had passed Naruto pulled away him. Obito let out a shaky sigh of relief and let his head fall against the tree bark with a thud. They both relaxed their tense muscles and slumped against the walls of the tree, their bodies slumping to the ground in a pile of limbs. 

“Ouch!” Naruto winced when Obito’s stray foot accidentally bumped his crotch and the boy shot him an apologetic look, bending and spreading his legs just slightly to accommodate the other boy. His attempts were futile though because he was the bigger one of the two of them and only succeeded in making Naruto curl in on himself like a frightened animal that just happened to be pulling out senbon needles from out of his body. 

Thinking momentarily on what a better solution could be, Obito grew nervous and swallowed, glancing shyly at his teammate while patting the empty ground next to him. There was a stilled pause and then some shuffling before a body was brushing against his side, a leg bumping then laying flush against his own. 

The little space they had was cramped for just the two of them but they still managed and neither one complained about the lack of personal space. After everything it was the least of their problems.

They sat in mutual silence until Naruto finally spoke up.

“How’s your hand?” he croaked, his throat parched from the heat that was suffocating them both and from how long they had ran. The slight breeze reaching their heated skin from the opening felt pleasant for both of them. They couldn’t afford to head out yet, not with enemies so close to the vicinity.

Obito brought his hand up and looked at the injury he’d sustained at the very beginning of everything. The kunai had only grazed the top of his hand thankfully, but it had managed to slash through the layers of tissue. The white of his bone was visible, but only barely. 

“Holy shit man, does it hurt?!” Obito raised an inquisitive eyebrow as he watched Naruto practically shriek like a little girl. 

Obito shrugged simply. He’d lost feeling of half his arm a while back but his hand was beginning to throb painfully as he slowly came down from his adrenaline high. The bleeding still hadn’t stopped and the blood dripped onto Naruto’s clothing, seeping into the already blood-soaked fabric of his leg.

“Here, let me wrap it up.”

There was some shuffling followed by a couple of grunts from Obito. It was difficult to move in such tight quarters but that didn't stop Naruto from digging into his backpack and taking out a roll of white bandages and a small container filled with what Obito could only assume was salve.

"I don't think that's gonna make it stop." he said slowly, watching how the other boy paid him no heed when he set the supplies on the ground and continued to rustle around in his bag.

"Aha!" Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically when he finally managed to find the small kit he'd been looking for. He clicked it open and pulled out a thin needle and Obito suddenly became agitated. 

"Gimme your hand." 

Obito shot the smiling boy an unsure look as he cradled his hand protectively against his chest.

"I'm not sure if I want to..." he confessed, glancing between Naruto and the shiny needle with a single thread already attached to it. The other boy rolled his eyes exasperatedly and gestured with his other hand expectantly.

"I've done this plenty of times before, just trust me here. If we don't close it soon then you'll leave tracks on our way back. Once we find the rest of the team Rin can close it up properly."

Still a bit hesitant, Obito reluctantly gave up his hand to the other boy and shut his eyes tightly as Naruto settled his other hand on his wrist to begin stitching the wound close. 

It didn't hurt any when the sharp end of the needle punctured through his skin, mostly because the nerves were already so tattered that he just couldn't feel it anymore. So, he peeked open his eyes and watched in rapt interest as Naruto knitted his eyebrows together and stuck out his pink tongue in concentration. 

They were so close to one another now that Obito could feel the air move between them. Oddly enough, the closeness felt nice after the life or death situation they'd been in. He didn't feel so irritated toward the boy who had went out of his way to save him and now, to patch him up. 

"Hey..." Obito spoke softly and Naruto stilled in his work to look up at him questioningly. He smiled warmly at him and Naruto felt his cheeks heat up slightly. Obito looked so much like Sasuke yet acted so differently from him that it unsettled him to no end.

"Friends?" Obito offered and Naruto’s lips twitched momentarily before nodding and resuming his task.

"Friends."

...  
  


...

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know most of you guys are confused now because of all the question-filled reviews I'm getting but don't worry, dudes. All will be revealed soon enough my dearies. Patience is virtue and all your questions will be answered in due time. Hope you enjoyed this though, so much so that you leave some kind reviews for me to giggle at.


	3. Unbidden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obito has spent all of his waking hours to go back to a time in which he could be happy. But life has a funny way of dealing him a losing hand. Or Naruto is just an anomaly in which probabilities can’t calculate the extent of his unpredictability.

The moment Kakashi had realized that they’d lost both Obito and Naruto he became panicked and restless. Panicked because for once he was frightened of losing two dimwitted comrades and restless because he was just itching to go find those two dimwits and give them both a good punch in the face. What could have possibly possessed those two to deliberately separate themselves from the formation like that? Kami-sama had better give him patience when he finally found them or else. And, by the looks of it, Minato wasn’t far behind him either.

Their small, three-person cell had successfully taken down five of the eight mercenaries that had ambushed them a while back but not without sustaining injuries. Minato had a nasty gash on his bicep from blocking a stray kunai that had been headed straight for Rin. 

Kakashi himself (although he hated to admit it) had taken a low-tier jutsu right to his side. It had caught him by surprise while in the midst of hand-to-hand combat with one of the lowlier ninja and had left a moderately big bruise in its wake. Needless to say, that certain mercenary didn’t see what hit him when Kakashi had unoccupied himself.

His shirt was stained with blood and so was his tantō but he shook off the excess fluids from it before sheathing it once more. He turned to look at his sensei that had just done in the last ninja with a simple swipe of his hand. The custom-made, three-bladed kunai had cut swiftly through the enemy’s neck and left him dead and hollow on the forest floor, a pool of blood slowly forming below his head. Kakashi nodded in approval, his impassive eyes flickering onto Rin who was staring blankly at the dead bodies surrounding them.

There was so much blood.

“I’ll finish off the rest.” He spoke monotonously and just as he was about to take to the treetops Minato’s stern voice made him pause.

“No.”

Kakashi whipped his head and glared at his sensei.

“Why not?” he demanded, a hint of anger lacing through his tone. He couldn’t help it, his impatience was getting the best of him and all he wanted to do was break necks and save the lives of his dimwitted teammates. 

“We’ll go as a team.”

Kakashi growled low in his throat.

“But I’m  _ faster _ . I can find them before you an-“

“ _ Kakashi. _ ”

He knew better than to argue with his sensei when he used that tone of voice with him. Minato was unrelenting and when he said things they were usually for the best and Kakashi trusted the man’s judgment. As much as he had trusted his father’s before everything.

Nodding curtly to Minato he tried his best to silently quell his exasperation. If it had not been for the cool hand that wrapped around his wrist in soothing gesture he would have never succeeded. Staring into Rin’s soft, worried brown eyes he let himself relax for just a moment, if not for himself, then to reassure her that everything would be fine.

All they had to do was find them.

“Kakashi, you take the lead. Rin, the middle, and I’ll bring around the back and cover you both. There’s a slight chakra disturbance about two miles from here, we should start there.”

Putting a firm hand on Rin’s shoulder, Minato offered her a warm smile.

“Don’t worry so much, we’ll find them.”

Rin smiled back despite her tempest of emotions raging within her while Kakashi stood there stone-faced.

But even so, they believed their sensei to the utmost fullest.

…

…

…

Everything was calm inside the forest. There had been absolutely no disturbances save for the quiet shriek Obito had unintentionally let out when a small fox had ducked into their hollow. Naruto had simply rolled his eyes at the other boy and cooed over its cuddly appeal, letting the creature lick his face and nip at his fingers. 

It had been at that moment when Obito had first noticed it.

The stab wounds on Naruto’s hand had completely vanished by then, the only proof of them having ever been there was the dried blood caked on the boy’s skin. 

“Naruto…” he said cautiously, narrowing his eyes at the unmarred flesh of the boy’s arm. Naruto had long since discarded his plain, black jacket and casted it off to the side where the fox was currently nesting. Obito had no idea how the hell it even fit in there with them but he supposed that since Naruto’s body was so intimately pressed up against him the other boy had made it his responsibility to make room. 

Obito didn’t mind now though, being too wrapped up in raking his eyes wherever Naruto’s flesh was most exposed to see if the peculiar phenomena appeared anywhere else.

“Yeah?” the other responded slowly, tilting his head slightly to look directly at Obito. Their noses were only inches apart, their spiky hair practically meshing together.

“Where are your wounds?” he questioned suspiciously. Naruto blinked, bewildered at the sudden inquiry. 

“Where I’m from my clan was known for their fast healing. Something to do with our blood.” he shrugged nonchalantly, trying to play it as cool as he could.

Naruto could only imagine what would happen once his secrets were revealed sooner or later. He wondered if  they would still trust him if they were to ever discover what he carried inside him. 

Gulping down the sudden lump that had formed in his throat, Naruto sat up and looked anywhere but at Obito’s gaze.

“I think it’s safe to head out now.” He concurred, quietly slipping his legs underneath his body and crouching down low to lean over Obito and peek his head out. Once he deemed that the coast was indeed clear Naruto shuffled on outside, dragging his backpack along with him with Obito following suit.

They stretched their stiff muscles and practically moaned in pleasure when the kinks in their bodies unknotted. It felt absolutely wonderful to be out in the open with slight breeze fanning over their heated skin. Just how long had they been in there?

“Aren’t ya gonna get your jacket?” 

Naruto shook his head and casually waved his hand.

“Nah, let the little critter have it. It’s got blood all over it anyway.”

Obito grimaced at the remembrance of Naruto soaking up the blood from his hand and from the forest floor with his jacket.

“Sorry…” he apologized softly. Naruto shot him a smile and shrugged.

“It’s alright, I never liked it anyway. Orange is more my style.” 

Obito swore he’d just fallen slightly in love with the other boy right then but he’d never admit that to anyone else. Finally, someone who understood the ingenuity of the color orange!

“We should hurry up and find the others.” Naruto said, already walking toward where they’d last seen their team.

It proved to be a grave mistake on his part. He had not given a second thought about his surroundings and had not felt the masked ominous chakra signature looming above them hiding in the trees. There was a spike of energy and Naruto was too slow to move away, his blue eyes wide with surprise and kunai sloppily poised in front of him. 

There was a familiar clash of metal on metal as the falling ninja used his entire weight to his advantage. Naruto’s kunai slipped and nicked the other man in the shoulder but the enemy ninja’s position was far more substantial, Naruto realized, as he felt the man’s kunai dig into his shoulder, ripping at his flesh and sinking into the muscle and tissue of his body. 

“Arrghh!” 

Naruto’s pained scream echoed through the forest, effectively snapping Obito out of his stunned reverie. His body was in shock as he watched the knife sink into Naruto’s body, blood squirting forth and sloshing onto the ground, staining the enemy’s clothes. 

There was a thud as both bodies fell to the forest floor, followed by a yell that Obito soon realized didn’t come from either him or Naruto.

Before he barely even had time to react a silver blur had successfully knocked the enemy ninja off of Naruto and smoothly eliminated him a few feet away from where Naruto lay injured on the ground. Minato had already taken out the other two some ways behind.

Kakashi seemed to be the epitome of calm and collected but he was raging on the inside. His blood was boiling and he wanted nothing more than to cause harm on the bastard who’d managed to hurt his teammates. But despite his whirlwind of confusing emotions about a boy he barely even knew, he remained still, head turned slightly to watch Rin gently remove the kunai still imbedded in Naruto’s shoulder.

Her breath was harsh against Naruto’s cringed face as she shakily ripped open his shirt. Blood was rapidly pouring out of his wound and she winced at the torn skin and ripped tendons that greeted her. Pain-stricken blue eyes were peering up at her and all she could do was smile, but only slightly.

Obito watched her as she began to heal Naruto with clenched fists at his sides, nails digging into his palm and breaking the skin. His throat felt thick and heavy as he tore his gaze away from the incident he could have very well prevented. 

If only he had just been more aware of his surroundings, if only he wasn’t so goddamn _weak_ , if only he was strong enough to activate his sharingan then maybe Naruto wouldn’t have gotten injured. How many times did he have to prove to people that he was useless? Couldn’t there just be a time where he could prove them all wrong? Why couldn’t it have been just this once when someone actually needed him? 

His eyes started to sting and he cursed at himself for being so emotional. So weak and useless and em-

“Oh my!” he heard Rin exclaim, effectively pulling him out of his thoughts. She began to back away from Naruto’s prone form in surprise. Minato walked up behind her, eyebrows knitted together as they watched the torn muscles and tissues begin to seemingly regenerate. 

But it wasn’t only thing that had caught his attention. It was the swirling, intricate seal that appeared out of nowhere around Naruto’s navel. If he’d gathered anything during his intense studies of seals then that meant that Naruto was undoubtedly a-

“ _ Nnngh _ ...” Naruto moaned in pain, his labored breathing soon beginning to even as his tanned skin wove together. His once ago tattered flesh now lay taut across his shoulder, unblemished. As if a kunai had not just slashed threw his body moments before.

Tan eyelids fluttered open revealing hazy cerulean orbs. Panic struck through Naruto once he realized what had happened and sat up, grasping at his tattered clothing and trying desperately to hide his exposed body. He looked at the bewildered faces of his teammates, fear striking his heart when his eyes locked with Minato’s.

“I-I can explain.” He stuttered, making a move to stand up. 

_ Oh Kami _ , Naruto thought,  _ he knows! _

There was a realization in Minato’s eyes that made it obvious that he knew exactly what Naruto was and what he contained. 

And Naruto couldn’t help but drop to his knees and bow his head well onto the ground when Minato took a step forward.

“I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me!”

Minato watched Naruto quiver with incredulous eyes. He had only heard rumors of the treatment jinchuuriki often received, but he had never known that it was to this extent. What could they (whoever  _ they  _ were) have possibly done to this boy of only fourteen years that made him flinch so violently at the very prospect of someone knowing what he harbored deep within him? 

Minato took a mental step back: had his intentions seemed malicious? How could one even approach a boy so petrified of the people surrounding him? 

He was so full of questions and possibilities that it took him awhile to realize that Naruto’s shaking had stopped when unforeseen and surprisingly gentle arms wrapped around him in a consoling half-embrace. 

“It’s okay, Naruto.” The voice spoke calmly, soothing the frightened teen and coaxing him to look up despite his overwhelming fear. 

Kakashi watched on, dumbfounded that Obito of all people was the one who chose to calm the boy down. 

…

…

…

It didn’t take long to coax Naruto out of his frightened position on the ground. He was all but ready to head out and completely avoid talking about the incident back in the forest. The rest of the team didn’t feel the desire to revert him back into whatever hopeless state he had been in before. 

Minato, as expected from a progressing fūinjutsu-user, was itching to ask him a million questions about the seal, but knew better than to bring up the subject again for fear of scaring Naruto off. Their mission was finally beginning to make sense, the scattered pieces of the puzzle coming together one by one and by the looks of it, Kakashi wasn’t far from reaching the same conclusion.

They walked in silence for the remainder of their travel, save for the few glances Rin and Obito would throw at Naruto. 

“We’ll be reaching the Land of Noodles soon.” Minato called out. 

“If I’m not mistaken we’ll be reaching it before evening. Cargo ships only run every three days.” Rin put a finger to her lips as she thought about it in her head. Minato smiled at her from over his shoulder.

“That’s right. We’ll be spending a day in one of the villages nearby until a cargo ship arrives and hopefully won’t mind us hitching a ride.” 

So far much of the land they’d come across was nothing but farming land used to make the noodles they exported. From where they were now they could finally see the outskirts of the bustling villages that acted as main border paths. Even further in the distance was the vast, sparkling blue sea which looked like something directly out of a painting.

As they got nearer and nearer their team began to walk closer together with Minato leading them in the front. 

“I bet they have really good ramen.” Naruto practically moaned, sniffing the air and drinking in the delicious aroma that travelled with the sea breeze. 

Their stomachs growled simultaneously and Rin was the only one that had the decency to blush. Minato laughed at them and relented.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you guys loud and clear. Let’s get some food before we scope out our room and board.” he waved at them to hurry along and they did. Kakashi simply trailed behind them, taking a much more languid pace. 

The village was buzzing with vendors of all kinds, the majority of them noodle stands (for obvious reasons) but there were some others who sold odd knick knacks for tourists to take back home with them (again, mostly noodles). 

Naruto looked like he was floating solely with the power of his nose. He would go to one stand, look at their food and then walk away with dejection clear on his face.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” Minato finally asked after the fifth attempt and Naruto shook his head.

“Ramen.” he bemoaned while rubbing his stomach. Minato chuckled and ruffled his hair. 

“In that case, I know just the place!” he led them along with a bounce in his step.

“Have you been here before, Minato-sensei?” Rin quipped from the back. They were near the ports by now and, save for some fisherman boats and several vendors it looked mostly empty, not at all like they expected but it added to the urban culture of the village.

Minato veered right and ducked under the red rice-paper flaps of a nearby stand.

“I’ve been here once, actually.” he answered as he took a seat on one of the stools. “It was for a mission and the man that runs Kushina’s favorite ramen stand in Konoha - Teuchi-san is what I think his name is - told us he used to work for the man that owns this place. So she made me promise to eat the food here and report back my findings.” he chuckled at the memory, remembering the way her eyes had sparkled when he’d returned from that particular mission after having sent one of his summons to deliver her two bowls of her favorite flavored ramen ahead of him: one miso and one pork.

The affection he’d gotten had been well worth it and he couldn’t help the smile that naturally curved along his lips. 

Beside him, Rin sighed dreamily.

“Ohh? Teuchi-san you say? It’s been awhile since I’ve heard that name…” the old man behind the bar rubbed his chin. 

He looked to be about fifty years old but the ease of his movements could make anyone doubt it. Naruto, who had paused his droolings enough to listen in, watched him as he began to prepare the noodles. His hair was white and receding, the skin around his face loose with age but wrinkled with years of happiness. It made him grin.

“Oi, ojii-san, one miso and one pork, please!” he shouted. The man peaked an eye open at him and instead of scolding him like Rin though he would, he simply threw his head back and laughed.

“You sure are rowdy, kid.” he said while placing the noodles into their bowls. 

“I’ll have one miso.” Obito piped up with a cheesy smile in place. He stuffed in the corner with Naruto to his left. 

“Shio ramen.” Kakashi grumbled from his seat beside Rin. 

“Hmmm, can I try the shoyu ramen?”

The man smiled down at her. “Of course you can little lady! Dealing with these boys all day must be wearing you out.”

“Oh like you wouldn't believe.” Rin laughed while Obito and Naruto vehemently denied being any sort of hassle.

“One tonkotsu for me.” Minato supplied and before long they had their meals placed before them, steaming hot and deliciously decorated with fresh toppings. 

“Itadakimasu!” they chorused and while the rest of Team Minato generously blew the heat off their noodles Naruto was burning his mouth all the while crying tears of joy, a continuous stream of snot dripping from his nose.

“This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.” he cried and Obito chuckled nervously, inching closer to the wall as he fearfully watched Naruto practically vacuum up all two bowls of ramen in a matter of minutes.

The old man was bellowing with laughter at that point.

“You sure know how to make a man feel proud of his work, kid!” 

Naruto’s eyes were alight as he nodded eagerly. “This tastes better than the one back at home! Iruka-sensei used to treat me to it all the time if I-” his mouth shut with the audible  _ clank _ of his teeth.

“U-Uh I mean- it was a long time ago. Before he- uh- before he left.” he sobered up, sinking into his seat and Obito watched him just as intently as his other teammates were. The old man said nothing, reading the atmosphere for what it was and went about cooking up another bowl.

He placed it in front of Naruto when he was finished.

“This one’s on the house, kid.” he winked at him with his aging eyes and Naruto beamed. 

“Thanks, jiji!”

Minato paid and they stood from their seats, waving bye at the old man who bid them a farewell.

“I’ll be back soon! You better believe it!” Naruto shouted behind him and ran off to catch up to his team. Obito had lagged behind so they could walk together as per protocol. 

“Jeez, I bet you could have made that guy a fortune if we let you stay there any longer.” Obito cringed. Naruto clapped him on the back with a loud  _ smack _ , making him lurch forward and barely catch his footing.

“Watch it, idiot!” he shouted. 

“You’re just jealous I got a free bowl.” Naruto leered, mouth set in a triumphant smirk. Obito rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

“As if. That ramen was  _ alright _ at best.” his words were empty and a means to rile up his teammate.

And it worked.

“Hey! You take that back!” he cried while jostling Obito’s side.

“Nyah!” Obito, while not one of his proudest moments, stuck his tongue out, finger drawing the bottom of his eye down in an attempt to mock the other. 

“Seriously, Obito?” Rin gave him a weary look. She was walking next to Kakashi who was giving them a look so wry that it made Naruto snicker unconditionally.

Kakashi hadn’t really changed much.

“Rin-chan, wait-” Obito called out, hand outstretched. She simply turned back around and he withered. 

“Ya know, you’re real smooth, Obito-baka.” 

He growled at the other boy. “Shut it! What would you know about girls! You kiss guys, remember?”

Naruto sputtered, face cherry red.

Up ahead and silently leading the team, Minato felt the edges of his lips turn upward just the slightest. 

Of course he’d had his suspicions. The boy had appeared out of the blue one day, his body haggard and lying atop one of Jiraiya’s toad summons and almost the spitting image of what he looked like once upon a time at fourteen years of age.

Hiruzen had been in that hospital room when he’d been summoned there and had promptly walked out without even so much as a word about what was going on. He’d left it all up to Jiraiya and even then the information had been nothing but vague.

Everything was still up in the air but one thing he knew without a doubt: Naruto was no personal threat to them. 

However, whether the intention was there or not was completely different. The threat wasn’t the boy, but whatever he was harboring away, hidden in the darkest of recesses, certainly was. 

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He felt eyes on him and he glanced to his right. Kakashi’s muted gaze was on him, a facade of disinterest on his countenance but his pewter eyes were roiled with intrigue, like he was connecting the clues of a puzzle.

“I think we should set up here for the night.” he finally said after half an hour of wandering around.

“Ano….sensei?” Rin timidly called him after he’d finished booking their rooms. 

“Hm?”

She shifted uncomfortably and it was only by looking at the empty space around her did something click.

“I think we lost them in the section with all those vendors…”

There was a  _ doink _ of Kakashi slamming his head against the wall and Minato let out a heavy sigh. He’d been so caught up in wondering what Kakashi had managed to puzzle together that he’d stopped sensing his team by relying only on his sight.

“Honestly, those two knuckleheads.” he shifted his pack around on his shoulders and made to go back into the crowd but stopped when Kakashi placed a hand on his wrist.

“I’ll go find them.” he said simply and Minato acquiesced, his curiosity winning over. 

“Alright. I expect to have all three of you in your rooms in half an hour alright?”

“Roger.” Kakashi nodded and disappeared into the streets.

Rin pouted as they watched him go. “Why do the boys get to have all the fun?” she let her fists rest at her hips. Minato chuckled. 

“You think so? I presume you won’t be using the onsen, then?” 

Her face brightened instantly. 

“Thank yooouu, senseeeiii!” she threw her arms around him and scurried off, leaving him in the dust. 

_ Women are all the same, _ he thought as he shook his head and headed toward his quarters. 

…

…

...

Meanwhile, Kakashi was admittedly struggling to find his missing teammates. He’d been walking for ten minutes with no sign of bright blonde hair or orange goggles anywhere and he was starting to get more annoyed by the minute.

Eventide was beginning to settle and while some shops were closing for the day many of them set out lanterns and lamps to brighten up their stands. The nightlife was interesting to say the least and Kakashi saw the appeal. Of course, for the two dimwits who’d gotten themselves left behind that is. 

“Yatta! I got one!” 

Speak of the devil....

Kakashi rounded a corner and found himself in one of the shinier parts of the inland port. There were several stands all dedicated to all sorts of entertainment. Flashy artwork, shiny knick knacks from the sea, colorful games, interesting characters - all compelling enough to distract the dumbest of patrons.

With a roll of his eyes he made his way toward the excited shouting which wasn’t hard as many travelers were curiously looking at the lively display of boyish enthusiasm. The stand owners, many of them reaching into what seemed like their fifties, were peering at them, eyes glinting fondly as if reminiscing. 

Kakashi was closing in, swiftly moving around the people with practiced ease with hands stuffed in his pockets. One couple politely stepped out of his way, revealing both Obito and Naruto on the ground, ogling something in their hands. The stand owner was watching them with amusement and from what Kakashi could make out there were little tiny goldfish squirming about in a tub next to the pair.

“Of course you idiots would be here.” he intoned and they looked up with dubious expressions of excitement and confusion.

“Oh, hey Bakashi.” Naruto replied and Kakashi felt his eye twitch. 

“Oh? You learned so quickly!” Obito had the audacity to look surprised. “I taught him that.” he turned to Kakashi with a shit-eating grin. 

“Let’s go already you asshats. Sensei is waiting for us.” he turned to leave.

“Yosh!” they stood up and ran to catch up. 

“What should we name him, Obito?” 

Obito’s eyes furrowed and he brought a hand to rub at his chin in contemplation.

“What about sashimi?”

Naruto blanched. “No way! That’s so mean!” he held the plastic bag up to the sky and watched the little orange goldfish swim around.

It kept searching for an escape and finding nothing but confinement. He felt something inside him viscerally shift. There was a surge and the bag popped.

“Aw man! What’d you do that for?” Obito scooped the fish from the ground. 

A few steps ahead Kakashi had a hand poised on the handle of his tantō. But Naruto wasn’t paying attention to anything, his eyes an empty void as he stared into nothingness. 

“Huh? Naruto?” Obito called, waving a hand in front of his face. It managed to snap him out of whatever reverie he was in and Kakashi relaxed his stance. 

Some bystanders were looking at them, some curiously and others in fear. The space around them and the civilians grew. 

Kakashi  _ tsk-ed _ in annoyance. They didn’t have the time to dwell unless they wanted more unwanted attention. He grabbed Naruto by the wrist and all but dragged him out of the street. 

“Let’s go.” he barked and Obito hurriedly followed behind them but not before stealthily dropping the goldfish in some guy’s glass of water with a subtle  _ bloop _ . 

_ “What the-” _

Obito snickered into his hand as he went to walk beside Naruto once again. 

“I guess it’s for the best.” he found himself reassuring the other. It earned him a sad grin but it was better than nothing. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ve never taken care of anything other than plants.” 

Naruto stared at the back of Kakashi’s head, remembering the plant he’d called Mr. Ukki and given to his Kakashi-sensei. The thought made him grin, impish and unreserved despite the cold sweat that had broke out along his forehead. He ignored the slight trembling of his hands. 

Obito couldn’t help but openly stare at him.

_ He’s so bright,  _ he thought without warning. 

He looked away with a blush, heart palpitating and palms sweaty. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as if he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to. 

The small amount of time he’d known Naruto for made him feel anxious. There was certainly a strong pull to be around him constantly now without really thinking about a reason why. Sure they’d gotten off to a sour start and he couldn’t really explain why he’d reacted so…. _ uncool _ , but by just having laid his eyes on him he knew he was different.

Different in a way that he didn’t know how to explain with words, only expression. When he looked at Naruto it felt as though he was looking into a mirror. 

It reminded him of the sensation he felt when he looked at Kakashi. He sensed what lay underneath in rumbling darkness, festering and waiting to break free.

It made him shudder, not really knowing if it made him feel uneasy or excited. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Please let me know what you think of my story so far! I know you all have questions but I promise little by little things will be revealed, especially when they get to where they’re going!


	4. Happenstance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obito has spent all of his waking hours to go back to a time in which he could be happy. But life has a funny way of dealing him a losing hand. Or Naruto is just an anomaly in which probabilities can't calculate the extent of his unpredictability.

Upon passing the threshold of their shared room they both had only one thing in mind: sleep.

Just as Obito was about to doze off, the door to their room opened and Minato’s head peeked inside.

“Are you boys seriously going to sleep like that?” he raised an eyebrow at them. Naruto stirred from his spot on the ground, turning his head to give him a look.

“We’re tiiiiiirreedd…” he whined and it endeared him to see Naruto act so carelessly, almost childlike.

“Actually, Minato-sensei has a point, Naruto.” Obito supplied while sitting up and inspecting the other boy, knowing full well that despite his appearance the stench of blood clung to him like a shadow. The crimson color had only been soaked by his dark clothes and hidden underneath a spare windbreaker Obito carried with him in his supply scrolls.

“I’m turning in for the night. Try not to make a ruckus.” Minato warned them before going back to his quarters.

“Hai.” they at least had the decency to look sheepish.

“You should leave your clothes here.”

Naruto turned to him with a comically quizzical expression on his face. “Huh? Why?”

Obito gestured to all of him. “You’ll freak people out if they find your clothes.”

He glanced down at himself, only now realizing the kind of situation he was in. “O-Oh, yeah…”

Naruto stood up and unzipped the windbreaker in one fluid motion, letting it drop to the floor before peeling away at his other layers of clothes.

Getting undressed in front of other guys was commonplace among their ranks as shinobi. Tight-knit circumstances even called for close-proximity at times and it had never bothered him before with his other teammates. But now, Obito couldn’t help feeling anxious as he watched the other boy bring his torn shirt up and over his head with practised ease, emerging yet defined muscles rippling with his movements.

His face felt hot while he took note at how evenly tanned the other was and compared it to his own fair complexion.

“You feeling okay?”

He suddenly had a face full of Naruto who peered at him with worried eyes. It made Obito feel lost and it pulled him in like a magnet but he flinched back in a knee-jerk reaction.

“Y-Yeah, sorry.” he finally spoke with a voice too shaky for his liking.

The other looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t push for anything else and instead grabbed two towels from the bathroom, throwing one at Obito’s face.

“Let’s go!” he yelled while running out of the room, Obito hot on his heels and whipping his towel at him as a means of revenge.

They stumbled into the onsen at each other’s throats, their towels hanging low on their hips as they struggled.

“Do you two idiots ever _give it a break_?” an annoyed voice interrupted from a foggy corner of the bath. Much like a creature of the sea, Kakashi waded through the water with graceful motions, the water up to his chest and a small towel hanging from his ears.

Both Obito and Naruto cursed.

“He started it.” Obito was the first to react and promptly shoved the other boy in the water with a loud _splash_.

“Hey!”

“Let’s not have another recap of the last time you dimwits played in the water.” the dry comment made both of them blush a furious shade of red.

“When are you planning on leaving?” Obito grumbled, easing himself into the steaming water with a lot more delicacy than he’d given Naruto.

“When are you planning on growing up?” Kakashi retaliated and it made Naruto blink, not used to this childlike side of Kakashi. Without much thought, he submerged himself, devilish grin in place and a glint in his eyes.

“The same day you _get lost_ , Bakashiii.”

Kakashi was about to retaliate but he stiffened, a harsh shudder racking his body. “What the-” he sunk his arm into the water and dragged whatever had brushed against his leg to the surface.

“Did I scare you?” the water opened up to reveal a grinning Naruto who was trying, and failing, to stifle his giggles despite his hair being harshly tugged.

Kakashi slammed him back down, undaunted.

“He’s going to die.” Obito observed from afar, eyeing the oxygen bubbles that frothed to the surface. The other boy simply supplied him with a bland look, his lack of concern speaking volume and it made Obito feel nervous, eyes fidgeting around to see if there were any witnesses that could step in, in case he was next.

Without warning Kakashi dragged him back up, watching impassively as Naruto gulped in large mouthfuls of air and clutched at the water’s edge like a drowned animal.

“That was mean.” he said after finally composing himself, shooting Kakashi the most vicious glare he could muster. Kakashi blinked, unphased, and even had the audacity to relax further into the hot water, head tilted back and exposing a bit of his neck.

With blue eyes wide and curious, Naruto leaned over ever-so-slowly, hands still clutching the edge and leveraging his weight like he didn’t know any better.

Kakashi’s hand zoomed out at lightning speed and grabbed him square in the face, chucking him away and into the water with relative ease.

Naruto emerged with a fierce pout and Obito couldn’t help the snicker that escaped him.

“Asshole.” he sniffled and wadded back toward Obito, making sure to keep a safe distance between Kakashi and him.

“Idiot.” Kakashi offered right back.

“Na, Obito?”

“Hm?” the boy in question peeked open an eye, having leaned his head back to rest it against the tiles momentarily.

“Does Minato-sensei have a son?”

The question was enough to pull Obito from his relaxed position without any trouble. It was so out of the blue that even Kakashi had turned in their direction with subtle interest.

Naruto was staring at him with a perturbed look, almost as if he’d been struggling whether or not to ask the question.

“N-No. I don’t believe so. Why do you-”

“She’s pregnant.”

They both turned their heads to look at Kakashi and Naruto’s eyes widened for a fraction of a moment before wiping all expression from his face.

“I see.” he stared off into the water, eyes searching for something.

Kakashi was staring at the boy openly now, Obito noted. He had noted the surreptitious glances his silent teammate would occasionally throw Naruto but had yet to really understand why other than maybe Kakashi was just as curious about him as he was.

“Why do you ask?” Kakashi finally spoke up, asking the question he’d initially cut off.

Naruto shook his head, unsmiling and absentmindedly.

“No reason.” he affirmed and his face lit up in another offhanded smile. “I’m getting sleepy. I think I’ll call it a night.”

Both Obito and Kakashi watched as he got out of the onsen without another word. They shared quizzical looks once he was no longer in sight.

“I didn’t know Minato-sensei and Kushina-san were expecting.”

 Kakashi waved a hand.

“Don’t you have dinner with them?”

Obito shrugged and looked away from the other boy’s imperceptible gaze.

“Not recently I haven’t. It’s been a while, actually…” he trailed off with a sigh, unwilling to share more than that because he knew, giving Kakashi more information than he needed to know was a double-edged sword.

Besides, it’s not like the bastard cared anyway.

Several more minutes passed and Obito figured it was time to get out at exactly the same time Kakashi thought the same thing. They glared at each other but said nothing as they made their way to the locker room to silently gather their things and head back to their respective rooms.

Obito carefully slipped inside, closing the door behind him quickly before Kakashi could take a quick peek inside. He didn’t know why, however, he did know that the urge to childishly shield Naruto away like he was some sort of new toy was growing harder and harder to ignore.

Too preoccupied with his thoughts Obito looked up and promptly turned back around, face bright red and eyes incredulously wide.

“What the hell, Naruto!? I thought you’d be dressed by now!” he yelled.

“I’m sorry!” the boy cried out, his voice panicked. “I think I have a rash!”

“What do you mean you have a rash?!”

“I don’t know that’s why I’m looking at it!”

They were still yelling at one another, Obito seemingly stuck in his cowering position while Naruto sat on the floor, towel barely covering the essentials, inspecting something on the inside of his thigh.

“Obitoooo…” he whined helplessly, “it itches.”

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Obito turned around, face flushed and ears burning a bright red. If Naruto wasn’t in such a predicament, he would have laughed.

“Get on the bed, idiot.” he sighed and Naruto scrambled to accommodate, knowing full well that what he was asking was an overextension on their kindling friendship.

The boy kneeled between his legs cautiously and with narrowed eyes, laying a hesitant hand on Naruto’s knee as he spread it a little wider in order for him to see the extent of what was on his thigh.

There were ugly streaks of raised skin on a patch in his inner thigh, the flesh blistering an angry red with random splotches.

“Were you scratching it?” he asked, glaring at Naruto suspiciously. The boy’s blush seemed to darken further as he furtively glanced away from Obito’s accusing stare.

“Yeah…”

Obito sighed and stood up to change into the rest of his nightclothes, only having donned on his sleeping pants when he’d gotten out of the onsen.

“I’m getting Rin.” he said while going to the door.

“Wait!”

Naruto was on him in a second, his chest to his back as he pulled the door shut with an audible bang.

“I don’t want Rin-chan!”

He whirled around, trying to pointedly ignore Naruto’s partial nakedness as best he could.

“What? Why?”

With hands on his hips, Naruto shot him an expectant look.

“....Oh-Oh, yeah.” Obito had almost forgotten as he glanced at the entirety of Naruto’s body.

“So, what do we do then?” he asked, trying to hide the inflection in his voice that sounded too much like he was going through puberty on the spot.

“Don’t you have anything on you?”

“No.” he said automatically and Naruto visibly deflated. Then he thought back to the (many) times he’d been injured during other missions and suddenly recalled the small medicine pack Rin had given him on Christmas that he had yet to use but still carried with him steadfastly.

“Wait, maybe I do.”

Naruto perked up as he made his way to his backpack and rummaged through its contents until he reached the very bottom to pull out a small, grey tin box.

“I think there might be something for that, knowing Rin.”

The girl was notoriously meticulous when it came to preparing for the worst possible case scenario.

“Aha!” he pulled out a tiny, circular container and undid the lid, revealing the transparent green salve Rin had probably made herself.

“This should work. Get back on the bed.”

Naruto happily obliged, nearly on the verge of tears at the imminent sweet relief he’d feel once the ointment was applied to his burning skin. Obito kneeled before him again, this time with no hesitation as he was too focused on the task at hand.

“Here, let me just…” he grabbed Naruto's leg and hoisted it on the bed. The small towel that was barely clinging to Naruto’s hips shifted with the movement. A centimeter more and the whole thing would have slipped off. Obito gulped thickly.

He dipped two fingers into the salve and rubbed it on the angry rash. Naruto tensed and hissed at the cool sensation on his sweltering skin.

Suddenly, there was a rap on the door and they both froze. The knob twisted and everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

“Hey, boys. Just wanted to let you both know that-”

Minato’s words fell silent as he took in the scene.

“We can explain!” Obito and Naruto yelled, faces flushed and eyes wild.

Minato promptly shut the door.

“Were they killing each other?” Kakashi asked innocently enough when he walked back to their shared room.

He froze at the question. Kakashi looked at him suspiciously atop the book he was reading.

“Something along the lines of that, yeah.” he chuckled nervously.

Silently, he wondered if it was time to have the talk with all _three_ of them.

Oh, how the time flew.

…

…

…

Naruto threw himself on the bed in defeat.

“Why does this keep happening to me?” he groaned.

Meanwhile, Obito was silently fuming as he gingerly applied the ointment to Naruto’s rash.

“If he tells Kakashi I’m going to leave the village.” he said resolutely.

Naruto couldn’t help to chuckle at the irony of the statement. “You and me both!” he concluded, not wanting the least bit to be teased for the rest of his stay here by Kakashi’s younger and more angsty self.

“Wouldn’t that just give Kakashi more reason to believe it if we left together?”

Naruto contemplated it and quietly agreed, but shrugged his shoulders. Meanwhile, Obito put up the salve by the nightstand next to Naruto’s bed and made his way to his own.

“At that point, what would it matter? It’d just be the two of us!”

Obito regarded him with an expression between confusion and disbelieving. In the end, he simply nodded and threw the covers over himself.

“I guess you’re right. We could just live in the forest and create our own village, that way we won’t have to answer to anybody.” He mumbled, his words partially muffled by the sheets but Naruto heard him.

“Since the Land of Noodles is taken, we should call it…the Land of Sunshine.”

Obito peered at him through narrowed eyes and snorted.

“That sounds like a cult. How about the Land of Moon and Sun?”

Naruto turned to him as he lay spread-eagle on his bed, now donned in a simple navy-blue robe that barely clung to his body and more so lay around in him in pools of knitted fabric, the cord having been only looped once. His bare leg was swinging off the edge, most likely to give his rash some air, much to Obito’s chagrin.

“Why the moon?” he inquired innocuously.

Obito yawned and snuggled further into the sheets.

“Because you’re the sun and I’m the moon.” He said simply like it was the most obvious explanation in the world.

It struck something deep within him that it left him momentarily speechless. His mouth was moving but no words were coming out. He was left gaping like a fish.

Soft snores filled the room as Obito fell asleep just as quickly as he’d said those words.

A warmness settled across his face in tingles, the poignancy of Obito’s remark settling in him like a rock.

The smile that unfurled across his lips was just as unreserved and unexpected.

“Yeah…that name is perfect.”

…

…

…

The best thing about this mission so far was the fact that they were able to sleep in the following day after spending the night recuperating in the _onsen_.

If it were up to them, they’d have slept until noon, but their sensei had other plans.

However, this time he knocked and waited a minute before walking into their room.

“We’re heading out in an hour. Make sure to get some breakfast before we leave.”

Naruto groaned and nestled deeper into the sheets. Obito did the same but threw a pillow over his head to shield away any more noise. Minato chuckled and closed the door.

“Are they still asleep?” Rin asked when he made it to the communal dining area where they were serving complimentary breakfast. She was sipping her tea quietly all the while trying to sneak glances at Kakashi who was sitting next to her, his head buried in a newspaper and his food still untouched.

“Yes. They should be making their way here soon.”

She sighed exasperatedly and drummed her fingers on the table.

“Honestly, they were making so much commotion last night I’m not at all surprised that they’re exhausted this morning.”

Minato lifted an eyebrow while taking a sip of his freshly-brewed coffee.

“You heard them?”

She shrugged. “Just muffled shouting. I thought they were fighting until I heard you come out. Were they just being idiots?”

Minato coughed abruptly, spurting his coffee back into his mug Rin shot him a quizzical look while Kakashi peered over his newspaper to give him a suspicious glare. Patting his chest, Minato shook his head and avoided their stares.

“Sorry, it was hot and I took a big gulp.”

Thankfully, that was enough to drop the subject but Kakashi was still shooting him pointed looks which he expertly avoided by slowly eating his meal and observing the other occupants in the area.

Eventually, their missing teammates showed up with tousled hair and groggy looks. They had both gotten twin trays of rolled omelettes, fruit, and chocolate milk. Obito sat to the left of Minato while Naruto pulled up a stray chair to sit between Rin and Obito.

“Ohayo.” They mumbled and dug into their plates.

Rin was looking at them with a dubious expression while Minato inspected them both from the corner of his eye, feigning inspecting his surroundings to the left of him as to not arouse Kakashi’s suspicion.

“I thought you two made up already.” Rin finally spoke up and the two boys only spared her a glance between their ravaging.

“What do you mean?” Obito questioned.

“Why were you guys yelling last night?” Kakashi beat her to the punch and Minato abruptly stood up and excused himself to go to the bathroom.

Both boys froze.

“Oh, were we?” Naruto laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. “Didn’t notice. Sorry, won’t happen again.” He waved a flippant hand but Obito was still suspiciously frozen in place. With a sharp elbow to his arm, he snapped out of it.

“Y-Yeah. Sorry, Rin-chan.”

She frowned at them and crossed her arms.

“Are you guys fighting again?”

“NO!” they yelled, backs rigid and eyes blazing.

Their other two teammates shot them disbelieving looks.

Obito coughed into his hand while Naruto tried to avoid the situation by stuffing his face with a bunch of fruit.

“Sorry, ehm, I think what we’re trying to say is that no, we aren’t fighting again. Just being idiots.” He chuckled nervously but it seemed to get Rin off his back. Kakashi on the other hand, well, that was a different chip on his shoulder altogether.

Minato chose that time to come back and stiffly sat down. He cleared his throat to gather his team’s attention before another conversation way out of his territory sparked up again.

“After yesterday’s incident, I think it’s best we practice some team-building skills.” He ignored the collective groans from everyone and continued on with a smile. “It’s important to build trust and communication with one another. Even you three could use a bit of a refresher course if I do say so myself.”

They winced at the memories, shoulders slouching and Naruto couldn’t help but feel anxious at what was to come.

…

…

…

“Remember, _no chakra_ allowed for this exercise, got it?”

“Hai.”

“A little more enthusiastic, yeah?”

“ _Hai_.”

Taking what he could get, Minato continued onward undaunted.

“Right. Since we have an even amount this time I’ll be partnering you up. Rin, you’re with Naruto. Kakashi, you’re with Obito.”

Naruto smiled while Obito cursed and petulantly crossed his arms. Kakashi spared him a withering glare.

“Each team will be located on separate sides of the field. This particular exercise will require each one of you to communicate by however means.”

He crouched down on the grassy field and performed a set of hand seals very familiar to Naruto. There was a ‘ _poof_ ’ and two toads appeared before them. The excitement that had been building inside him deflated when he realized neither toad were his bothersome pair. No matter how annoying they were, he still missed being able to summon Gamakichi and Gamatatsu to do his delivery work.

“This is Gamahiro. He’ll be with you guys.” He pointed at Rin and Naruto and the small blue toad hopped toward them with a simple and gruff, “Hello”.

“This is Gamaken. You’re with Kakashi and Obito today.”

The red toad nodded, “Understood.”

Naruto blanched. He could never get his toads to be so docile!

“One of you will be tasked with the job of catching my summons.”

Naruto and Kakashi perked up at the easy task while Rin and Obito held twin expressions of nauseousness at the prospect of having to touch the slimy toads.

“Don’t worry, Rin, I can do that part! Easy-peasy!” he shot her a grin and she smiled gratefully at him. But Minato held up a finger and tutted.

“Not so fast. Whoever it is must be blindfolded. The other person cannot touch the toad. Instead, their objective is to help the other person navigate while relying on any other sense that isn’t sight.”

They all paled. Rin and Naruto were the only ones to let out nervous chuckles, more or less thinking along the same lines that they weren’t totally doomed in comparison to the other two.

“Alright! You have forty-five minutes! I’ll start the timer once you guys are situated.”

“Gee, thanks.” Obito mumbled under his breath.

They walked on opposite ends of the clearing, the thin, straight grass tickling their ankles as they marched along the field to put a good amount of distance between them.

From the teams, it was Naruto and Kakashi who were tasked with catching the toads while the other two stood off to the sides.

“Alright…begin!”

…

…

…

Naruto had officially lost count how many times he had busted his ass and face while trying to catch the slippery summons. His knees were throbbing from how many tumbles he’d taken from trying to desperately lunge in time to catch the damned thing. Rin was probably on her thousandth apology by now, too.

“You were so close this time! Go a bit faster!”

Thankfully, the blindfold covered his exasperated eye-roll. If he went any faster he’d probably knock a tooth out next time he falls down. It was only a matter of when, not if.

They were only twenty minutes into the exercise but they weren’t getting any closer to completing the objective. Time was ticking and if they were beginning to feel the tension, they were sure Obito and Kakashi were at each other's throats by now.

He straightened up and placed his hands on his hips.

“Look, Rin-“

“I’m over here.”

He did a full one-eighty spin and ignored the warmth creeping up his neck.

“Look, Rin, how about we try something different?”

“Like what?” she inquired and he tapped his foot in concentration. She could see the steam bellowing from out of his ears. Eventually, he sat down and placed his hands on his knees, his own version of Shikamaru’s ‘thinking position’.

“We’re always one second behind Gamahiro, and his movements are never the same.” She supplied with a frown as she sat next to him, joining him in his contemplation.

“If only there was a way for you to hear me the second I tell you his direction.” She bumped a fist in the palm of her hand. Just then, a particularly harsh wind blew past them, tussling their hair and causing the tendrils of grass to dance to its rhythm.

“This wind isn’t helping either.” Rin groaned. She was startled when Naruto abruptly jumped to his feet with a fist in the air.

“I got it!” he exclaimed.

“Rin, get on my back.”

She looked at him quizzically for a good moment, before the sudden revelation cleared her judgement. She smirked and stood up to stand beside him.

“Let’s finish this.”

…

…

…

“If only I had my sharingan, we could have already finished this!”

Even though his eyes were covered by the blindfold, Obito could _feel_ the iciness of Kakashi’s glare on him.

“If you weren’t such an idiot we could have already been done!”

He quelled the urge to stomp his foot like a child. At this rate, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish their first exercise at all!

However, he couldn’t really blame Kakashi for being angry. He had led the other boy to run right smack into the only tree that was in a mile radius of them. And yeah, maybe that was personal revenge or _maybe_ he hadn’t really been paying attention all that much, he couldn’t really tell since both applied. The random bush he’d made Kakashi crawl through might have been a bit of an overkill, too. _Might have_.

“Are you thinking of a plan or are you passing gas again? We’re running out of time.”

Obito flushed.

“Shut up, asshole! I was thinking!”

Kakashi snorted. “Really now?”

He fumed but didn’t retaliate. Instead, he chose to calm down and start thinking of other options.

“Kakashi, let me get on your back.”

“No.”

Suppressing his urge to whine, Obito threw his hands in the air.

“Fine then! You come up with something, Bakashi!”

“Get over here, you idiot. If you trip me I’ll kill you.”

Obito blinked and walked to him, curious to see what he had planned.

“Stay beside me at all times. And keep up, will you?”

He turned his back and Obito couldn’t help but stick his tongue out at him. Kakashi inclined his head.

“I saw that.”

His tongue just about shriveled up into the back of his mouth.

“Bastard.”

…

…

…

Minato paused the timer with a succinct _click_.

“You came in a close second!”

“There’s only two teams.” Kakashi deadpanned.

Minato chuckled. “Yes, well, I’m still impressed with your time. You know, considering…” he gestured to them and their haggard appearance. Obito’s hair was scattered in straight spikes as if something had exploded in his face while Kakashi had a tear in his pants and grass in his silver hair.

Gamaken was still in his grip and Naruto couldn’t help but inspect the thing, trying to find the button that made them so obedient. Kakashi grunted and moved away from him in disgust.

“You stink.”

Naruto scowled.

“You don’t smell so good yourself pal.” He wasn’t going to admit the small mishap of grabbing Gamaken too tightly and causing him to thrown up. All over him. It had taken a while for Rin to get it all but she couldn’t do much about the stench.

“What’s next, sensei?” Rin piped up and all three boys refrained from groaning their despair.

“We’re heading north for the next exercise, actually.”

This time, their grumbles didn’t go unheard.

“Oh hush. We’re going somewhere nice.” He lead the way with a bounce in his step before turning his head and regarding Naruto with a sparkling blue eye. “It’ll even give you a chance to wash off.” He winked and Naruto flushed in embarrassment.

After thirty minutes of walking through the field of grass, they found themselves passing a threshold of towering black pine trees. They creaked and moaned with the whispering breeze, their leaves falling around them like a shower of green with splashes of the afternoon sun spilling through the gaps.

It took another twenty minutes to reach their destination. They smelled it before they saw it, the crispness of freshwater flooding their nostrils in a refreshing breath of air. The susurrus of rushing water was the next thing to reach their ears. Not long after, they caught glimpses of a crystalline waterfall.

They ‘oo-ed’ and ‘ahh-ed’ once they reached the base, marvelling its height and beauty with wide and innocent eyes. Minato couldn’t help but chuckle as he laid down his pack with a _thump_.

“We’ll have plenty of time to enjoy it after our exercise. Let’s suit up!”

Ignoring their scathing glares Minato pulled a small scroll from his pouch and summoned up the utensils they would need for this particular exercise.

“Uhm…”

They stared at each other uneasily. Minato grinned and held up the first two toward Naruto and Obito. They took them hesitantly and inspected them with wary eyes.

“What is this?” they asked in unison.

“They’re straps. Put them on. You might need to help each other.” He answered while giving another set to Kakashi and Rin.

No one commented on Rin’s dreamy sigh.

After a lot of embarrassing maneuvering and _a lot_ of putting the wrong limb in the wrong hole (Minato suspected Rin’s equipment issues stemmed more from the fact that she was doing it on purpose than actual difficulty in order to get Kakashi’s begrudging help), all four were all strapped up and ready for their next instructions.

“This time we’re switching teams. Obito, you’re with Naruto.”

The cheeky smiles that wobbled on their faces were clear indicators that both boys were trying to hide their excitement. Kakashi rolled his eyes meanwhile Rin shot the two a warm smile.

“Kakashi, you’re with Rin.” Still, no one commented on her dreamy sighs and star-filled gaze.

On any other occasion, it would have at least riled up Obito enough that he would remain in a sour mood for the rest of the day. But today was different, Minato deduced, eyes straying over to Naruto who was tugging at the straps scrunching up his pants near his crotch area. Today, Obito had a distraction.

“Naruto, Obito, you two will be on the left side. Rin, Kakashi, you two will be on the right.” He clapped his hands together and leered down at them. “Now! This exercise may seem simple, but don’t be fooled! The same no chakra rule applies here as well. Rather, you’ll be relying on your own strength.”

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. Minato’s eyebrow twitched, his grin borderline evil now as he whipped out two long bungee cords.

“However, you will be directly attached to your partner. So, one misstep and both of you will be falling. Tread carefully.” He wiggled his eyebrows and Naruto couldn’t help but think the man’s dramatics were amusing at best. It reminded him a lot of Jiraiya, his brutish flair obviously having rubbed off on the man.

“You get used to it eventually.” Obito mumbled to his left while shielding his mouth. He laughed in response as they headed to their respective side of the waterfall once Minato had linked their straps.

“You ready?” Naruto called, wiping his hands down his pants to get rid of any nervous sweating. Obito nodded and flashed him a grin and a thumbs up.

“We got this in the bag!”

They started together, checking every jutting rock with a hand or a leg before settling their full weight on it. Neither of them was going very far but they were making steady progress. It wasn’t until halfway to the top that both of them began to feel the wear and tear of their muscles.

“This is torture.” Obito cried and Naruto could only nod as he tried to wipe the dirty sweat that was getting into his eyes.

The momentary delay proved to be a grave mistake as the rock beneath Naruto’s right foot gave way. Obito could only watch in slow motion as the boy began his fall downward. Almost immediately, hot and scorching adrenaline flared to life inside him and coursed through his veins as he reached inside his pouch with a such a quickness that wasn’t processing anything he was doing, he was simply reacting.

He stabbed the kunai deep into the sedimentary rock and tensed his muscles as he braced for the impact.

There was a harsh tug, but it didn’t come with nearly enough force to knock him down. He peeked below him and sure enough, Naruto had pulled his own kunai out and dragged it into the rock to relieve some of the kinetic energy that had built up during his fall.

“Ouch…” he winced as he pulled his left hand toward him. Obito saw blood dribbling down his arm, the flesh of his hand marred and blistering from trying to stop his momentum. He bit his lip and said nothing, instead choosing to tug on the bungee cord to get Naruto’s attention.

“C’ mon. I’m not leaving you behind.”

Naruto snorted and started climbing up, ignoring the pain that spiked through his hand every time he lifted his body to the next rock. Obito didn’t move until he was right next to him, sweating hard and out of breath but a familiar fire burned in his blue depths. He nodded in recognition.

“Let’s go.”

And so they went on, fueling each other’s energy with rivaling determination and a burning desire to finish so that they could enjoy the relaxing qualities of the water down below. They finished in record time, collapsing on the ground in a heap of limbs and cords.

Minato was already waiting for them up top, timer in one hand and a book in the other.

“Great timing you two. Now we just have to wait for the others.”

Naruto and Obito happily obliged by leaning against a boulder, shoulder to shoulder and with a great view of the swaying trees down below.

“You’re hand alright?” Obito finally spoke up and Naruto flinched, hoping against hope that the boy wouldn’t ask him such a question.

“Yeah.” He croaked and hid his hand beneath his thigh. The cuts had healed already, the only proof of his injury was the smeared blood that ran from his hand to his arm.

The wind was more prominent above all the trees, its coolness brushing against their flushed skin and wisping through their hair.

A couple of minutes passed and Rin came soaring from the edge, plopping down on the ground with an _oof_. Kakashi followed soon after her, his eyes screaming bloody murder as he threw the hook to the cord on the ground when he passed her by.

Minato simply raised an eyebrow at him when he went to stand before him.

“That’s not teamwork, Kakashi. That’s called ‘throwing-your-teammate-against-her-wishes’.”

Kakashi let out a long-suffering sigh.

“We wouldn’t have made it in time if I hadn’t thrown her.” He tried to explain. Minato snapped his book shut and shook his head.

“Let’s hope you do better in the next exercise.” He stood up and walked to his other three subordinates.

“Rest up. Our next exercise won’t be for another two hours.”

They all let out sighs of relief, Obito and Naruto racing each other to see who could get to the bottom first now that they could use chakra. Rin trailed slowly behind them while Kakashi physically dragged his feet, his head hanging low.

Minato walked beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“There will come a time when you will have to depend on others, you know.”

Kakashi regarded him with an indecipherable gaze but Minato simply smiled down at him and patted his head.

“Next time.” He said softly and walked ahead.

Kakashi’s legs dragged behind him even more.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by: DireDiamonds 
> 
> Hellooooo~ this didn't take long to think up but it didn't long to write so I made it a little extra longer for you guys. Please tell me how you like it or give a kudos! Or both! I really enjoy hearing feedback :)

**Author's Note:**

> This has been written under a previous title as “Embracing Originality” but I had to change a lot of things as I am trying to continue it. I was unsatisfied with how I started it and so I've decided to post the edited version here while slowly editing my original version on FF.net.


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